* Military Identity Numbers

[Baboon281]

When entering details of military service I wonder how people deal with a particular individuals Military Identity Number. On the details I am recording for one of my Family Members each Military document generally contains the Identity Number so do people:-

Record the Identity Number on the FACTS tab each time the number is used (therefore having multiple entries of the number albeit with different dates).

OR

Just record the number on the first date located and then use subsequent sources as confirmation of that number therefore ending up with only one entry for the Military Identity Number.

Thanks

[Jane]

Personally I put them in the Note for the Occupation record along with the Regiment details, if someone has multiple numbers because they moved regiments, I simply add a second Occupation.

Obviously in the Transcripts (text from source) on the sources the number may well occur many times.

[Gowermick]

I tend to think of it as a single fact (I have created a Custom Fact called: Military ID), with possibly multiple sources of where it was found. ( I wouldn’t have multiple facts with same serial number any more than I’d have multiple facts with the same birth date. )

If the individual moved regiments and got new service numbers, I’d enter them as separate facts, and make sure all service numbers had a date range associated with them, so they can be sorted into chronological order.

[E Wilcock]

My Project for an artillery Brigade in World War 1 is a private working database and not yet imported to fh.
I entered the service numbers in an undated note which appeared immediately under the person's name, so it was instantly visible on screen.
In the UK in World War 1, men frequently had more than one service number. There was renumbering of the artillery in 1916 and other men were given new numbers after transfer to a different unit, often after being wounded and recovering and returning to the front.
I put all numbers known to me in that top note field like this:

"570, 840374 on additional list. South Midland Howitzers. Later A Bty,. 317th Bde."

I found the different event types for Military Service in TMG inconvenient and in moving to fh, I decided to use only two in my fh Projects: Military Service and Military ID, both from the extended set. I see they are listed as attributes but I have disregarded that and dated them like Events. So I have opted to have a separate field for the Service Number, even tho I havent used it yet.

The reason I havent is that in the German records I am looking at now, the service number, if it is given, is always attached to a unit and regiment. I enter that as Military Service. It is the military service that matters, not the number. But again these are my private working databases.

In fh the advantage of having a separate field is that one can display it and sort it on the individual record list. The downside of that is that fh does not seem to allow for customisation of the columns in only one project. So any custom display of German military databases will show up as an empty column on a personal family tree from rural Lincolnshire.

If one is outputting data, and if genealogical software is one's only database, it is probably useful to have that separate field for the service number. When taking numbers from a particular source I would list them in their own column in MS Access (or Excel) and move the column to match the position in the original source.
https://sites.google.com/site/4thsouthm ... igade-1916

It really depends on the purpose of your fh Project. And the import and export requirements.
It seems everyone is much the same here. We have an fh field but we dont use it.

[AdrianBruce]

... Record the Identity Number on the FACTS tab each time the number is used (therefore having multiple entries of the number albeit with different dates). ...

That would, to me, really clutter the place up, for no good purpose. If number 12345 is used over 1914-1916, and 312345 from 1916 to 1919, then that's just 2 facts to me. Each would have a date range (1914-1916 for the first and 1916-1919 for the second).

... OR Just record the number on the first date located and then use subsequent sources as confirmation of that number therefore ending up with only one entry for the Military Identity Number. ...

So yes, I'd do this, except that I'd have a date range (if I knew it!) not just a single date.

What you don't mention is what arms of the military we're talking about and when. This might matter because numbers were often not unique across a regiment, never mind across the entire Army (if that's what we're talking about). For instance, there might be 6 different soldiers with the number 1234 in the Cheshire Regiment at the start of WW1, because there were 6 different offices looking after soldiers in the regiment - one office for each of the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Battalions (5 offices) plus a 6th office looking after the Regulars in the 1st and 2nd Battalions. If you have such a case, then you might want to ensure that you make it clear somehow which unit the guys were in at the time they had that number. If your unit is clear from other military facts, then that might be enough for you. Just make sure that the unit is more detailed than "Army"!